χάος
by AnyOrdinaryGirl
Summary: What if Percy's in trouble? What if there's some other force, or forces assisting Gaea? What if, what if, what if. That's a lot of what if's. What on earth is happening? R&R PLZZZ I beg beg beg you. This is a re-write of The Son of Neptune.
1. Jason

**Son of Neptune**

**HI. Well. I just started going on FF again, and I read through this story... It's horrible. I suggest you skip to the last two chapters because those are the only acceptable chapters :P That is all...**

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**Oo-kay. This is the first chapter of my Son of Neptune re-write, I've kept it mostly the same, changed a little bit, combined the first two chapters together ect. **

**Disclaimer I don't own Percy Jackson :P**

Chapter 1:

"_Exactly," Jason agreed. "Percy Jackson is at the other camp, and he probably doesn't even remember who he is."_

A bright flash of light blinded Jason and probably everyone else, and when he could see properly again, Jason was stunned to see Hera. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

"No," Hera stated. Confused silence enveloped the room as the campers gawked at the sudden appearance of the goddess; she was wearing a snow white gown. Her arms were bedecked with jewelry, and a beautiful gold necklace rested on her neck. Her clothes flickered for a moment into a hooded black robe and goatskin coat. But she seemed stone serious. This can't be good, Jason thought.

"What?" Annabeth asked, confusion showed clearly on her face.

"No," Hera repeated. "Percy Jackson is no longer at the Roman camp."

As realization struck, chaos broke in, all the campers started asking a million questions at a time and a handful of them tried to regain order. Even Jason was surprised. He looked over to Annabeth -Whose face was as pale as death itself- , Leo and Piper. Their faces all mirrored his confusion.

Chiron stomped his hooves three times and the room quieted down. "I should not tell you this," Hera continued. "Though I fear you will not succeed without this knowledge. He was taken not too long ago. I do not know who took him, or why they took him, but clearly it is the work of a great evil."

Just then, Thalia burst into the room.

"Trouble," she panted. "Percy." She looked horrible; a long claw mark oozing fresh blood stretched from her upper thigh to the middle of her calf, her spiky black hair was a tangled mess with leaves and grass mixed in with it. Her hunters clothing were tattered and blood stained. Her quiver was empty and she was doubled over, clutching her stomach.

"Thalia!" cried Jason in alarm, rushing over to his sister. "What happened?" Thalia slowly regained her breath and looked up, and spoke as calmly as possible. "I-I had a dream about Percy. He was lying in a cave, injured. His clothes were tattered and there was blood all over the place. Then, on my way here, monsters were sent to capture me. I overheard them talking, and I think Percy's in serious trouble."

Disbelief overcame the room as the campers let this newfound knowledge sink in. It was one thing to say to the Greek campers about another camp for demigods –a Roman one, apparently-. It was another to say that the hero of Olympus, their savior of camp was in trouble, possibly dead.

Annabeth turned paler –if that was possible-, she looked ready to collapse, more than a few concerned glances were aimed at her, including Jason's. Nevertheless, she asked Thalia with a shaky voice. "Do you have any idea where this cave might be?"

"I'm not sure, but if I had to guess, it would be somewhere around Italy."

"Wait a minute," Miranda Gardener said.

"Yeah?" Annabeth replied, slightly annoyed.

"Percy has the curse of Achilles right? So how can he get injured?" Curse of Achilles?

"I don't know," said Annabeth, anguished. "Maybe they found out his Achilles spot or…" Her voice trailed away. Thinking of a logical explanation.

Leo cleared his throat, and everyone turned to him. "Um… in case you guys haven't noticed, we're like, _new_ here so can someone explain?"

"You know the story about Achilles? The mortal hero who bathed in the Styx?

"Yeah."

Percy's invulnerable because he bathed in the river Styx like Achilles. That's the reason he was able to defeat Kronos. He only has one weak point on his body, but that point is more vunerable." Annabeth explained vaguely, distracted. She was probably still thinking of an explanation for Percy being injured.

"Back to Percy," Miranda interrupted. "Annabeth, you _do_ know that this could be a trap right?"

"It can't be. Otherwise why would there be monsters trying to capture Thalia?"

"Part of the trick."

"I don't care. I'll find out when I get there."

"You can get killed Annabeth." Miranda said softly. "Percy won't want that."

"What if Percy _is _in trouble? He'll die and he won't be able to _want _anything." Annabeth said, frustrated. She looked close to tears, and when she closed her eyes, a single drop traced a watery path down her cheek. "I _will_ go and none of you can stop me."

"If you're going, then I'm going," said Thalia, placing a hand onto Annabeth's shoulder. She opened her eyes and whispered, "Thank you." Then she stood up. "Let's consult the Oracle then."

Everyone turned expectantly to Rachel, who've been sitting quietly and listening to their arguments without a word.

Rachael closed her eyes and swooned. Green mist gathered at her feet like the last time at the campfire. Which Jason thought felt like years ago. She opened her eyes, which were two glowing Emeralds. Smoke the same color as the mist flowed from her mouth. Forming a ghostly green image of a guy with dark hair in a dark cave, bloody and injured, his fists were clenched at his side and he wasn't moving. Jason wasn't even sure if he was breathing. Annabeth uttered a choked gasp. Then Rachael spoke in the rasping, ancient voice of the Oracle.

"_Six shall venture on a desperate attempt,_

_To rescue a hero who bares eternal torment._

_Who you seek is not what you think,_

_For what you know you must rethink._

With that, Rachael's Emerald eyes closed and she slumped against her chair. A couple or Campers next to her carried her to one of the rooms in the big house to rest. Another silence settled over the room as each individual tried to figure out the Prophecy. It wasn't especially depressing or anything, at least no one seems to die here. It was just extremely confusing. _"Who you seek is not what you think,"_ what would that mean? _"What you know you must rethink."_ What do we need to rethink? Questions swirled around in Jason's head, making him more and more confused.

"Now _that_ was confusing," Travis Stoll stated, voicing everyone's thoughts. "I mean, '_Who you seek is not what you think, for what you know you must rethink.' _That's just like telling us everything we know is wrong." Everyone nodded.

"Okay, so let's start from the top. _'Six shall venture on a desperate attempt,'_ so six people will go. We all know that Annabeth and Thalia are going, who else will go?"

"I will," said Jason, he can't get his mind around the idea of losing his sister again. So what's better than to go with her? "If Thalia's going, I'm going." Thalia gave him a smile.

"I'm following Jason," Piper volunteered.

"Whoa, if you two are going, you can't leave me out!" Leo said with a goofy grin on his face.

"But Leo, don't you have to help with the _Argo II_?" Asked Annabeth.

"Aw come on, the Hephaestus cabin can handle it. We've got all the blueprints and stuff ready, and the Athena cabin's helping right?" Annabeth nodded.

"So it's Me, Thalia, Jason, Leo and Piper. We still need one more person to volunteer."

"I'll go." Everyone turned. A Satyr with a camp half blood T-shirt and Rasta cap set sideways on his head stood by the doorway.

"Grover!" Thalia and Annabeth cried, running over to give him a hug, he almost collapsed.

"Why are you here?" They asked.

"Well, I heard about Hera coming here so I, well, came," The satyr Grover explained gingerly.

Jason looked around the room. Hera wasn't here anymore. She must have left during all the commotion.

"So you're coming huh? Goat boy?" Thalia asked with a grin on her face.

"Yeah, Percy came after me when I was in trouble in the Labyrinth. I'm going to do the same for him no matter what."

"It's just going to be like the old days" Thalia sighed. "Great, now we have me, Annabeth, Grover, Jason, Leo and Piper."

"Jason, Leo and Piper? Are they the three new demigods?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry. Forgot you guys haven't met," said Thalia, leading Grover over to them. They stood up.

"Hey, I'm Jason."

"I'm Piper,"

"And I'm Leo."

"I'm Grover."

"Now, the second line," Thalia continued. "_'To rescue a hero who bares eternal torment.'_"

"The Hero must be Percy, but eternal torment?" Annabeth asked, deep in thought. A thin film of tears coated her eyes, and they shone in the light.

"Don't reach conclusions so quickly Annabeth, there might be a double meaning for this, you know that prophecies aren't always what they seem to mean."

"Hmmm…"

"And the next few lines are telling us what we know is wrong."

"Then what do we know?" Will Solace asked.

"That Percy is in trouble, he was taken, and that this is the work of a 'great evil.'"

"What if this is all wrong?"

"But Hera came herself to tell us that."

"What if it's this voice you guys were talking about? The Snow Goddess? Plus, Hera's not always trustworthy."

"We won't know unless we go. Then it'll be clear," said Annabeth.

"Okay then, but what will we do if we _do_ find Percy?"

"Bring him back of course!"

"What about the Roman camp? Won't they be worried?"

They turned to Jason, who felt a bit uneasy about the sudden attention.

"Yeah, I guess, if he's proved his worth."

"And if he hasn't proved his worth he won't even be there right?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, so we can bring him back here first. Then take him on our trip to Greece and stop at the Roman camp when the _Argo II _is built."

"That'll be half a year later."

"We'll figure out the details when we get back, maybe he can send an Iris message or something," Promised Annabeth. "But right now, finding Percy is the priority."

"Very well then," Chiron said, "The destined six shall leave tomorrow at dawn. May the gods be with you. The meeting is adjourned."

**Please tell me about any mistakes, because I'm pretty sure there's at least one, don't hide it from me. And people who don't like it say: you suck, or something in the reviews, and include why!**

**Random stuff:**

**Percy: Hiii**

**Annabeth: I thought you were dead seaweed brain! *Runs over and shoves him to the ground.***

**Percy: AHHHHHH OH AND REVIEW**

**Me: Teehee**


	2. Piper

**χάος **

**I****'ve set a goal of 50 reviews by chapter 6. Please help achieve it! REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: **

**Me: I own PJO!**

**Percy: No you don't**

**Me: Yes I do**

**Percy: No you don't**

**Me: Yes I do. I own Peanut butter, Jam, and an OC.**

**Percy: …**

**Me: Bwahahaha. pownage!**

Chapter 2:

Piper trudged up the hill to Thalia's pine, a cool breeze brushed past her cheek, the sun was just starting to rise, and the sunlight danced along the grass. She felt a little aprehensive about the quest. She didn't know why, but it gave her a bad feeling.

"Hey," a voice behind her said.

Piper jumped. She unsheathed her dagger and turned. Jason backed up and held his palms up.

"Whoa, it's okay, only me."

"Sorry," Piper apologized. "My mind's on the quest. You alright?"

"I'm fine, what about you?" He asked, concerned. "You don't look so good."

"I'm just worried," Piper told him. "The quest gives me a bad feeling. I don't know why, it's weird."

Jason was quiet for a while. "Do you think this is a trap?" He asked.

"I hope not, especially if it includes cyclopes," Piper joked.

Jason smiled, even though it didn't quite reach his eyes.

By now they've reached the hill, the rest of them were already there, waiting.

"Hey." They greeted, waving them over.

"So where're we going?" Piper asked.

"We're thinking along the lines of Rome and Greece." Annabeth replied.

"Do you think he's there?" Jason asked.

"There's a chance, but we're not sure yet," Thalia answered. "Maybe we can use Grover's tracking skills once we're close enough.

"Argus'll drive us to the bus station, from there we'll take a bus to the airport and we'll figure out our next step there."

"That's as good a plan as any," Leo said. "So can we go now?"

"Yeah," She responded. She slung her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Be careful, young demigods. This trip is very dangerous, never let your guard down. You never know what monsters are on your tail." warned Chiron grimly.

"Thanks a lot Captain sunshine, way to boost our confidence." Annabeth said. "We can take care of ourselves."

Chiron gave them a half-smile. "I know you can. Now go, time doesn't stand still to wait for people."

With that, Piper and the others headed down to the van.

* * *

After the short ride to the bus station, the group stepped off the van. Piper stretched, the wind was strong here, and it whipped her hair around until it was a tangled mess.

"Bye, Argus," Annabeth said.

An eye on the back of Argus's hand winked and he was gone.

"The eyes are creepy." Piper said.

"I know! It looks weird, especially if he winks on his hand or something." Leo agreed.

"Grover, do you smell any monsters?" Thalia asked.

"I don't think so, but the wind's strong, so I'm not sure." He replied.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Annabeth asked Grover.

"What?"

"Us playing Hacky sack on our first quest."

"Yeah," he said wistfully, "good times."

"You ended up eating it."

Grover blushed. "That was an accident!" He protested.

"You still ate it," Annabeth said with a smile. "It being an accident doesn't make that difference."

"Wait," Jason interrupted. "What did he do?"

"On our first quest, me, Percy, and Grover were playing Hacky Sack with an apple, but when we kicked it over to Grover," she patted his shoulder. "He ate the whole thing in one bite, stem, core and all.

Piper stared at Grover in disbelief. "I don't think I'll look at you the same ever again." She said.

Leo cracked up. "You're officially my hero bro, I mean, a whole apple in one bite? You've got to teach me that."

The group laughed, even Grover smiled. But just then, the wind changed direction, and Grover's eyes widened in alarm. "Get down!" He yelled at the others. He pushed Leo sideways onto the ground; narrowly missing a sharp beak that drove down onto the concrete they were a few seconds ago.

"Okay, I said it wrong. _Now_ you're my hero," said a bewildered Leo.

Piper unsheathed her dagger and looked up at the sky for their attacker. A gigantic eagle that was easily bigger than a large bus was circling above them. It was a beautiful specimen, the feathers were bronze colored, and its beak was razor sharp. A single peck and they'd all be history.

The mortals were screaming their heads off and running around like crazy lunatics.

"What _is_ that?" Piper shouted over the screaming.

"I think it's the Caucasian Eagle!" Annabeth answered.

"_What_ eagle?"

"The Caucasian Eagle!" She replied. "The one Zeus sent to eat Prometheus's Liver?"

This lit up a spark of Piper's memory, a quiet afternoon Piper and her dad spent on reading about Greek mythology.

"_Hey Piper," Her dad said. "Look at this one."_

_Piper looked over to his book and read it aloud. "'As punishment for stealing fire from Olympus for humans, Prometheus was bound in chains to the Caucasian mountains. The Caucasian eagle was set by Zeus to feed on Prometheus's liver in the day. While at night, his liver grew back, only for the eagle to eat it again in the morning. _

_It was Hercules that finally shot the eagle down with a volley of arrows and cut Prometheus from his chains.'_

"_Ew, that's gross dad."_

"_We're eating goose liver tonight," announced Tristan Mclean._

"_Dad!" Piper sigh in exasperation_

The Eagle dove again, this time at Jason.

"Jason! Duck!" Piper yelled. Jason crouched just in time and the eagle rose up again. Piper noticed there was a black patch at the back of its neck, she tried to make out what it was, but by then it was gone.

"Shoot it!" Piper heard Annabeth shout to Thalia.

A dozen arrows flew through the air, but none of them hit the eagle. It was as if there was a protection around it, the arrows bounced off a few inches away from its body.

"What's that?" Leo asked.

"I think it's a protection of some sort! I don't know what it's made of though!" Annabeth answered.

Leo seemed to think, and then he pulled out a screwdriver and a few weird looking gadgets from his tool belt.

"Distract it! I'll try and disable the protection!"

"How?" Annabeth asked

"Just do it!"

Jason looked around and found a cola can next to the bin; he picked it up and threw it at the eagle.

"Hey eagle!" He shouted. It seemed pretty weak to Piper, but it worked. The eagle turned and fixed its beady eyes on Jason, it readied itself to charge at him. Thalia was still firing arrows at the eagle, trying in vain to hit a weak point. Annabeth was rummaging around doing something. Leo's bunch of gadgets was already forming a vague shape, but Piper couldn't tell what it was from this distance.

Grover started playing a fast, catchy jig. Which Piper thought would go pretty well in Barney or Sesame Street. Out of the corner of her eye Piper saw the weeds on the edges of the sidewalk growing in frenzy, they twisted around each other until they formed a thick, green rope. The eagle, not noticing this, flew down at Jason.

Jason tried to duck again, but the eagle knew what he was going to do, and reached further down. Its beak just managed to snag Jason's shirt, and it lifted Jason up with it.

"Jason! Fly out!" Piper called.

"I'm trying!" He said.

Jason struggled, but the eagle's beak was clamped firmly over his shirt now, so he had absolutely no hope. Piper felt helpless and panicky, she couldn't do anything on the ground. She fervently hoped that nothing bad was going to happen to Jason, but of course, the Fates decided otherwise. The eagle flew over a python, but Jason's shoe managed to hook onto one of them in his struggle, being the son of Jupiter, it didn't hurt him. The eagle though, freed him by tugging hard, and in the process its beak scratched a long line across his back. Blood stained his shirt almost instantly, but he managed to stay conscious. Piper felt desperate, she looked over to Grover, who played harder on his pipes, and the weeds started to stretch, reaching up towards the sky.

As fast as the weeds are growing, Piper knew it wouldn't be fast enough to reach the eagle without Jason bleeding to death, and if it could, the eagle would be hard to catch, and it's struggling would cause Jason blood loss. So she did what she did best: charm speaking.

"Hey eagle," she said in the calmest tone she could manage, "don't you think it's tiring up there?"

Piper saw Annabeth give an arrow for Thalia to shoot, connected to it was a barely visible thin piece of wire.

"Won't it be nice to come down and rest for a bit?"

Thalia strung her bow and shot. The eagle looked down suspiciously at Piper, but stopped its ascent.

"The air's quite nice here, and there's less wind."

Thalia's arrow lodged precisely into a gap of someone's window. Jason's head lolled and he fell unconscious. Panic blossomed in Piper, but she kept her tone calm.

"Get it to the trip wire," Annabeth mouthed.

Piper nodded. "You see there?" She said to the eagle. "That spot above the sign? It's nice there, a bit of sun, not to much wind."

It seemed to work, the eagle started to descend slowly. The tripwire gleamed in the sun, and Piper prayed that it would not notice.

"Yes, a little to the right, it's really nice there." The eagle's claw caught on the wire, and it flapped frantically around in alarm.

"No, no!" Piper said hurriedly, "its okay! That's just some laundry lines!"

The eagle slowed its wings a bit, but not a lot, as if it was trying to figure out if Piper was lying. It was too late by then; Grover's weeds reached it, and wrapped around the eagle's claws, effectively securing it to the spot. Leo finally seemed to finish what he was doing, and passed it over to Thalia.

"Shoot it onto the wire," He instructed.

The weeds were breaking apart; it couldn't hold the eagle for long. It was still trying to escape; no amount of charm speaking from Piper could persuade it to stop. Any time now, its bonds would break, the eagle would be mad, and they'd be in serious trouble. Piper did_ not_ want to see that. In it's escape attempts, the eagle dropped Jason. He fell from the eagles grasp, Piper started towards him, but stopped, because just before he hit the floor, his descent slowed, and he landed softly on the ground. Piper didn't understand why though, he still seemed unconcious, so it was impossible for him to control the wind.

Thalia wrapped the mysterious device onto an arrow and shot it. Piper was sure it would bounce back onto the ground, but when it reached the eagle, time seemed to stand still. There was a crackle of electricity, and the eagle burst into a shower of white light.

**Okay, I kept to my schedule :D review please! I want to go back to my 101 reviews. So far I only have 2-3 :( that's just sad. I don't even care about whether it's a flame or compliment. Flames are good actually, I feel cold, my hands are ice, and if my dad knew he'd make me wear three more layers. And at least flames tells me what I have to change. Tell me about the mistakes! I don't trust my grammar :P.**


	3. Cacus, son of Vulcan

**χάος **

**Only 6 reviews! Am I that bad?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.**

Chapter 3:

Piper shielded her eyes; the eagle was surrounded with a white electric void, a single tendril connected to the back of its neck, the black patch Piper had seen earlier. The glow faded, and the eagle fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"It worked!" Leo cheered.

Piper immediately went over to Jason. His back was still bleeding badly; and it formed a very scary pool of blood. Piper turned him over, and Thalia started cleaning it expertly. It seemed to Piper that all Hunters were good at healing. Then Thalia picked out a needle and began to stitch the gash back together. Piper winced, and hoped that Jason won't wake up. Luckily, he didn't. Not until Thalia finished stitching it back up and trickled a little nectar on it. It stopped bleeding slightly.

Jason opened one eye groggily, then the other.

"Ow," he said.

He tried to sit up, but failed miserably, and ended up on his back again.

"Here," Thalia said, "Have some ambrosia."

"Thanks," He said, and took the square gratefully.

"Guys, come over here!" Leo yelled.

"Do you think you can walk?" Piper asked Jason.

"Yeah, I think so."

He stood up shakily, and Piper helped him to the others. They were all crowded around the bird, and Leo was fiddling with something black. Piper got a good look at the bird; it was actually entirely made out of bronze, except for the black thing Leo was holding.

"It's a remote of some kind," he announced, "probably for the protection thing, it's pretty hi-tech."

"Let's get out of here first, there're guards coming," Annabeth told them.

"And monsters," added Grover. He pointed to the end of the street, a hellhound bounded towards them, followed by a couple of no-so-friendly things.

"Let's go."

With that, the group jumped onto the bus.

* * *

"Let's get some sleep now. The trip's going to be long, we never know when we can sleep." said Thalia, "And Jason needs to rest."

"Yeah, I'm going to try and think of a plan, and take watch in case any of those monsters catch up with us. Last time we boarded a greyhound bus and well…" She shuddered and Grover grimaced. "Not too great."

Piper wanted to ask what happened, but seeing the sad expression on Annabeth's face, closed her mouth. Piper knew this reminded her of Percy. She glanced at Jason, glad he was here with her, and smiled. The last thing Piper saw before she fell asleep was Annabeth sitting opposite to her, deep in thought.

_In the dream Piper stood in the same dark cave as the one they had seen in the green mist when they were having the meeting, except Percy wasn't here. A faint stream of light came from a small opening at the top, and from this perspective Piper could see gruesome heads of men nailed to the entrance of the cave, the recent ones were pale and bloody, ruby red liquid dripped off their necks while some of the less recent were rotten or bleached white bones. Bits of flesh and skeletons of the dead littered the walls of the cave, as if someone had clumsily swept them off to the side. A giant sat in the middle of the cave. He was gigantic, at least 30 feet tall. He was quite similar to Enceladus. He wasn't wearing anything except for a loincloth, which looked like an oversized diaper hanging on his body. He was chewing on the skull of a cow or something when a loud battle cry was uttered outside of the cave. The giant, terrified, dragged a huge boulder in to front of the cave, blocking the entrance. The person outside pounded on the huge rock, but to no avail. Then it was silent. The giant resumed gnawing on the skull nervously, glancing at the entrance from time to time. A while past and the giant started to relax again. That is, before it started to rain rocks. The giant looked up to see a young man wearing a Greek toga, about 18 to 20, tossing rocks onto the giant from the small opening on the top of the cave. He must have climbed up there, Piper thought. The giant roared in anger and spewed flames. The man dodged and continued tossing rocks at the giant._

"_Die, Cacus, you foul beast!" He cried. _

"_You will never best me! You are a mere mortal demigod! I am a giant, the mighty son of Vulcan!"_

_They continued with their fight, the demigod throwing rocks and the giant Cacus spewing flames. This lasted for an awfully long amount of time, neither did each other any harm, except for a few burns here and there, and a few cuts and bruises. Then the young man tossed the last rock and jumped down, aiming for the creature. The giant, not expecting this, didn't dodge quickly enough, and the demigod ended up on his neck, clutching with an iron grip. Cacus tried to throw him off, shaking his shaggy head around, but the man held on. Eventually he strangled Cacus. The monster collapsed, and the man stood and brushed his hands off his toga._

Piper woke to Annabeth's shaking her shoulder wildly and shouting into her ears.

"Wake up Piper, monsters!"

"What?" Piper shook off her sleep and observed the scene before her.

The mortals didn't seem to see anything, some looked over disapprovingly, and Piper was guessing they saw a couple of teenagers arguing.

A pretty girl stood in the front, she seemed normal at first, but after a closer inspection Piper realized her hair was flames, and she bared her wicked, sharp fangs. Behind the flaming haired girl were two snake-like women with forked tongues. As Piper watched, four enormous dogs Piper assumed were hellhounds appeared. How on earth did so much come? She wondered. She didn't remember this much attacking them on their quest; Piper was slightly confused as she launched into battle with one of the hellhounds.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Thalia shoot three arrows at a snake woman, she dodged, and the arrows found its mark on a hellhound behind her. Piper ducked to avoid the claws of the hellhound she was fighting and twisted to the side to stab under its belly. The hellhound disintegrated in yellow monster powder. Annabeth was in heated battle with the girl_, _dodging and ducking to get away from her deadly fangs, while Grover played a frantic tune and threw acorns that seemed to grow tendrils that connect with each other and wrap around her legs, trying to put her off balance. Thalia had drawn her hunting knife and stabbed the snake woman; Leo was trying to kill the other one, taunting her and hitting her on the head with his hammer when she leapt towards him.

_Jason!_ She remembered with a jolt, she turned to findJason fighting well enough, although a little slower than usual. He was covered with monster dust, fighting off two hellhounds, he wasn't doing very well, he wasn't moving fast enough, especially as he was fighting two hellhounds at a time. Piper crept behind one just as it was about to leap on Jason, and sliced it into monster powder. Jason used the opportunity to kill the other one. Piper blew a strand of hair off her face.

"Thanks," said Jason. He smiled, the cute little scar on his upper lip curved in to a crescent.

"Your welcome," replied Piper, she smiled back. "Is your back okay?"

He winced slightly. "It's okay, I guess. Not the best, but I'm fine."

Piper nodded, not all convinced, because she could see a little red seeping through Jason's shirt. "Let's help them then," Piper said, gesturing to Grover and Annabeth.

"Winning now will not help you," The flaming haired girl taunted Annabeth. "Soon, your kind will be destroyed, and there will be nothing you can do about it."

"Shut up," Annabeth snarled.

"Mind your manners Annabeth, you're fighting someone you cannot possibly _hope_ to win, the beginning of the world itself."

"Oh save your breath, Gaea's hardly the beginning."

The girl's eyes glinted mischievously, like she knows something they don't.

She probably did.

"Daughter of Athena, you're getting slow."

This seemed to get Annabeth mad, and she charged forward. The girl halted her with a single sentence. "Poor Perseus Jackson, wonder where he is now."

The girl used her hesitation to kick Annabeth, sending her across the floor; she hit her head on the hard metal part of a seat with a loud thud.

"Good bye half-bloods, I'll see you again soon," The girl called as she jumped out the window. Piper stared at the window after her, pondering what she'd said.

Thalia immediately ran over to Annabeth, who held her head in pain. Grover grabbed a canteen of nectar and gave it over to her. Piper and Jason rushed over as well, while Leo looked around for any more monsters.

Thalia gave Annabeth the canteen of Nectar, which she took and drank gratefully.

"Better?" Thalia asked.

Annabeth nodded weakly. "Yeah, much better,"

Thalia helped her up onto a seat, and Piper asked "Who was that girl?"

"You mean the one that jumped out the window?" Thalia asked.

Piper nodded.

"That's an _empousa; _she feeds on male hero's blood. The other ones were _dracaenas_ and hellhounds."

"Why were there so many monsters?" Piper wondered "I don't remember having so many on our last quest."

"That's because there's six of us. So our scent becomes stronger, naturally we attract more monsters. It's lucky we didn't have worst ones. Like the kindly ones."

"Wonder what we smell like," muttered Leo under his breath. Piper smiled, and so did Jason.

"Jason, your back's bleeding again!" Piper noticed.

"It's okay," he responded, hiding it.

"Oh come here, you bleeding to death won't help us," Thalia said.

Jason smiled and gingerly let Thalia change his bandage.

"Anybody feel in the mood to sleep again?" Leo asked.

A chorus of no's followed, but the concept of sleeping reminded Piper of her dream.

"Guys, I had this dream about a giant, and he was in the exact same cave as the one Percy's in." Annabeth immediately turned her attention on her.

"Go on," she said.

So Piper told them about her dream, how the young demigod tossed the rocks and strangled it, the heads nailed in the front of the cave. How the giant called himself son of Vulcan.

"Hmmm… Cacus, huh?" stated Thalia. "Jason, got any ideas?"

"Son of Vulcan," He thought for a while and his eyes lit up.

You could almost imagine a light bulb lighting up with a 'ding' next to him. "I know! He lives in this cave in Palatine Hill in Italy. He was killed by Hercules, who strangled him when he stole his cattle. He used to eat humans."

"That means he's back now." Annabeth guessed.

"And we're going there."

**Bon jour mes amis. Is that right? I suck at French, and I have a French test coming up. I'm gonna fail it! NOOO!**

**It's almost March break! Yay! Are you going anywhere? I'm just staying home :P pity...**


	4. Percy

**χάος **

**Disclaimer:**** Who thinks I own PJO? Really? Someone does? Oh… they don't…**

**RANDOM :)**

Chapter 4: Percy plopped down onto the couch next to his backpack. He'd hopefully got rid of the monsters on his tail, at least enough to sleep peacefully for one night. He was exhausted, but only one thought went through his head: _I have to find Annabeth._ He didn't exactly have all his memories, but he knew who Annabeth is, and he knew she would help him get the rest of his memory back. He didn't tell anybody of his dreams about a Greek camp, not even Aricia. He couldn't risk losing their trust now, but Lupa probably knew about it anyway, he could see it in her eyes when he asked for a quest.

Percy observed the room. It was rather small really, but enough to fit the necessities. The walls were plain white, a bathroom in the corner, the caramel-brown colored couch Percy was sitting on rested against the wall. An average sized bed was in the centre of the room, the headboard was a few centimeters away from the wall, with creamy white bed sheets and two pillows. There where a few indoor pot plants next to the door, and a balcony opposite to the television.

Percy stepped out onto the balcony, and breathed in the cool air, a soft breeze swept against his face. He looked into the horizon, watching as the last glimpse of the sun disappears, and listening to the shouts of Italians walking their dogs. Then he went back in, took a shower, and cleaned his wound before climbing into bed, falling asleep almost immediately. He hoped for a dream to the whereabouts of Annabeth. As far as he knew, they were on a quest. Thalia, Grover, Annabeth, Jason, and two other new campers he didn't know but are apparently, called Leo and Piper.

_The group of six was sitting in a café in Italy, or so says the street sign, with their bags by their feet. Their clothes were blood-stained and Piper had a bandage on her thigh. A girl chewing gum about 18 came over to take their orders. They ordered a couple of drinks; the girl jotted down their orders and walked away without a second glance at their clothes and the worn expression on their faces._

"_So," Thalia began, fiddling with her charm bracelet. "We've been attacked three times today. Not bad."_

"_Yeah, 'cause almost getting turned into stone isn't bad," Leo said sarcastically. Thalia ignored him._

_Then Annabeth, who'd been silently gazing at the horizon, watching the suns gradual descent, spoke up._ _"First, we have to find a place to stay, half of us are hurt, and we need to rest."_

"_Yeah," Piper agreed. "Let's ask the waiter."_

_Thalia waved at the waiter. _

"_Yes?" she asked crossing over to their table._

"_Is there a hotel nearby?"_

"'_Round the corner, the Monoplis hotel," she answered, but then hesitated. "Do you kids have enough money for that?"_

"_I guess no-"_

Percy jolted awake, a snake-like vine curled around his ankle. He uncapped Riptide and slashed at it, severing the connection between his leg and the plant. His head whipped around as another vine encircled his waist, and he slashed again, ruining the pillow along with the vine. Percy looked at his surroundings; the vines grew from the indoor pot plants next to the door. As, he watched, a hole was blasted in the centre of the door, and more vines snaked their way in. They joined together, like an enormous python, and attacked Percy viciously. One lifted Percy up like a doll and threw him across the room. This jarred his thoughts for a bit, but he stood again and fought. This wasn't like any normal monster, whenever Percy took out a bit of green, it slithers to the back and joins with the rest of them again.

Percy slashed and dodged, his body on autopilot, but the plants just kept coming. Soon he'd be overwhelmed, even a seaweed brain as him knew that. The cogs in his head swirled and spun, and then an idea registered. It was stupid, crazy, desperate idea that no sane human would ever even consider, but then again, they weren't demigods, and Percy _was _stupid, crazy, and desperate. Don't forget not entirely human. So he ran to the balcony, praying to Jupiter as he did _please save me this time, you owe me that, and if you don't, you'll lose an ally and probably one of the six demigods. _He knew this idea would probably get him killed, if threatening the lord of the sky like that didn't, but he wasn't named Seaweed brain for nothing.

He grabbed his backpack on the way, and as crazy as it sounds:

He jumped.

Percy leapt off the balcony. His clothes billowed out behind him, his hair whipped around in the wind, and the bone-crushing concrete floor rushed up to greet him.

**Ohhhh, so what's up? There isn't an exact time for this, mind you. So don't jump to conclusions. :) Hmm… Who's Aricia? What happened in the Roman camp? Does Percy die after the jump? Tune in next week to find out!**


	5. Leo

**χάος **

Chapter 5:

"You okay bro?" Leo asked Jason. He didn't look too well, whenever he moved his back he winced slightly, not much, but Leo suspected he was just down playing his injury for everyone else's sake. You can see the pain in his eyes. Thalia had announced earlier on that the skin on the left side had torn away too, so Jason was now left with a weird Y shaped scar on his back.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Jason replied, waving Leo off.

Leo raised an eyebrow. "You know you're not fooling anyone right?"

"Seriously, Leo, I'm okay!"

"Sure you are."

Jason rolled his eyes, but didn't answer. The bus stopped, and the group clambered off warily. Leo helped fetching Jason's bag, ignoring his objections and -obviously false- claims that he was fine. The short walk to the check in booth gave Leo some reflection time. He had a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he couldn't place a finger on, but overall he wasn't too scared of the challenges the quest posed. He didn't like them of course, but he no longer felt afraid. As he lugged the backpacks along, he relived some of the memories of the past weeks. The rise of Gaea –just the thought of her name reminded him of his mother, and a pang of longing and guilt shot through his chest, accompanied with thoughts of vengeance against the earthen goddess. Then he thought of Medea and Midas, and the possibility of more mortals arising. A thought pulled him up short. If all those mortals were back from the dead, what's to say his mother couldn't?

"Hey, Leo," Piper said, waving a hand in front of him.

"Huh?" Leo replied, shaken out of his reverie.

"You ok?"

"Of course I am!" Leo scoffed, "Never been better."

Piper looked at him, unconvinced, but didn't question Leo.

They checked in without much problem, and sat down on a clump of chairs near the window. The sun shone in from the floor to ceiling glass, bright and cheery. Leo stared down at the blue carpeted floor and the zigzag patterns the light formed.

"All passengers heading to Italy, Rome, please board the plane in section A. Thank you," said a _way _too happy voice over the speakers.

"Come on," said Thalia, standing up.

The demigods waited in line to board the plane, Leo absently fiddled with the random bits and pieces he'd picked up on his way there. He looked out of the window at a plane as it backed slowly into position. I could've made a better motor, he told the guy down on the ground in his mind.

Leo looked down at the object in his hand. Ha, ha, he thought.

A pair of flight attendants were standing behind the counter, talking. One of them was checking the tickets. She ripped off the end lazily, not even bothering to look at the passengers when she took their tickets. The pair was middle aged, with green hair, probably dyed, and identical red uniform hats on top of it, along with a pair of sunglasses. Why they wore sunglasses indoors? Leo had no idea.

The woman ripped the end piece of Leo's ticket. It made a hissing sound, which Leo later found wasn't from the paper at all. He looked up, and what he saw frightened him so much that he almost tripped and fell. That would most definitely _not _look heroic. The women had transformed into monsters with green snakes for hair, they twisted and hissed at Leo. Long claws at least 5 inches long were painted with blood red varnish.

Leo still hadn't figured out who they were until they started reaching up to take their sunglasses off, and Annabeth shouted out to the group.

"Don't look into their eyes! They're Stheno and Euryale, the three gorgons!"

"Smart," one of them hissed, "Medusa is… busy, so we will handle you demigods ourselves."

Their next words were directed to both Annabeth and Grover.

"You, daughter of Athena, and the tiresome satyr, will pay for what happened to our sister. You will _never_ leave this place alive!"

Grover whimpered slightly, but there was determination shining in his eyes as well. He started playing on his pipe; nothing happened at first, but then the snakes started going crazy on the two gorgons head. They growled at him.

"Your skills improved," Thalia commented while drawing her bow and arrows.

Grover smiled. "Better than YMCA, huh?" he joked.

Leo had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

"Look at them from a reflection or something, but never directly," Annabeth ordered the group.

Piper whipped out her dagger Katatropis, which seemed to Leo very suitable right now, since its name _is_: 'The looking glass'.

Leo saw Piper gag when she saw the gorgon's hair.

"You guys really do need a hair cut," she told them.

The monstrous sisters hissed venomously, but what Piper said caught Leo's attention. Hair cut? A spark lit up his brain, and he thought in his head: _Light bulb._

Leo grabbed his mini invention, and threw it across the room to the gorgons head. He didn't have a great aim, so he prayed to every single god he could think of. Please hit it, please, he begged.

Fortunately, at least one god must've heard him, and the device hit Stheno squarely on the head just as she leapt towards Grover. The machine activated itself and started chopping the snakes off the monster's head. The first landed with a wet squishing sound, Stheno stopped mid-jump as the green serpents rained down._ Raindrops keep falling on my head _kept playing in Leo's head_. _Stheno stared in shock as her precious snakes fell. Euryale seemed paralyzed by this surprising development too, and stood stock still.

"Guys! Get going now!" Leo screamed at his amazed friends. They finally seemed to shake themselves out of their surprise. Unfortunately, so did Euryale. Stheno didn't seem to hear them though, and she stayed as still as a rock. The snakes kept dropping onto the floor like green stones. Euryale growled and jumped at the closest person, which was Jason.

He won't be able to dodge with his back wound; he'd have to twist sideways, since there were a row of chairs directly behind him. Normally, that would have been no problem, even with the wound on his back, but the latest battle on the bus had created even more damage. The long, deadly claws would impale him and Leo's friend would be history. They were all too far away to help, and they watched helplessly as the monster charged towards Jason.

Then something unexpected happened, Jason was pushed away by some kind of invisible force moments before Euryale reached him. A disembodied yelp pierced the air as Jason was shoved away. Everyone knew who it was.

"Piper!" the boys yelled, concerned.

A feeble voice answered them.

"I'm okay," she said faintly. Piper took off Annabeth's invisibility cap and threw it to her. Piper's face was deathly pale, but as far as Leo could observe, the only wound she had was a bloody slash down her right thigh. The pool of blood next to her suggested otherwise though.

"Get her," Piper said softly. Then she passed out.

Leo and Jason started towards Piper, but stopped as Euryale swept her claws at them.

"It's okay!" Grover called out to them. "I'll get Piper."

Leo nodded. Then he turned to Euryale. A burning fury exploded in Leo when he saw her snarling, ugly face. No one, he thought, can do that to his best friend and get away unharmed. The two boys stepped forward.

"Careful Jason," Leo warned, looking pointedly at his back.

Jason nodded. "I'll be okay, as long as this witch goes back to Hades."

Leo grinned. And they attacked viciously; they drove Euryale back to where Stheno stood, still mutely staring at the snakes on the ground. Leo snorted, seriously? It's just her _hair _for god's sake. Leo swung his hammer and hit Stheno on the head sideways, and then Annabeth stabbed her in the back invisibly. Stheno disintegrated on the spot. Her head didn't though, it fell on the ground and rolled under one of the seats.

"Noooo!" Euryale screeched. Her loss of attention allowed Jason to slice a deep gash down her arm. She turned and glared with pure hatred at Jason.

"You will pay." She said, and jumped out of a window off to their side.

"What is it with monsters jumping out the window nowadays?" Leo groaned.

Jason smiled, but just for a fraction of a second before he caught sight of Piper, still unconscious on the ground with Grover and Annabeth crouched down next to her. When Leo reached her side, he was met with a horrible scene. Piper's clothes were all blood-stained, a deep gash started at the top of her forearm, continued down her right thigh, and ended at her calf.

Thalia was already patching her up, and she seemed to rouse a little bit. She opened her mouth when they trickled nectar into in. Then her eyes fluttered open.

"Ow," she groaned.

"Have a little Ambrosia," Thalia said.

Piper ate a square, and her wounds closed up a little.

"So what'd we do with that thing?" Leo asked, pointing at the gooey head.

"Last time Percy mailed it to the Gods," Annabeth said with a sad smile.

"Yeah, he seems to have a major talent at ticking off the gods," Grover sighed.

"And causing trouble," Thalia added.

"What?" Leo asked, surprised. "You guys fought that before?"

"Medusa," Annabeth corrected. "Not Thalia though. Grover, Percy and I met her on our first quest for Zeus's lightning bolt. That's why they wanted me and Grover dead so badly. Medusa hated me last time anyway. Athena turned her and her sisters into the three gorgons when she and Poseidon met up in Athena's temple for a date. Last time she'd wanted to turn Percy into a statue to keep him. Probably reminds him of Poseidon. Percy completely fell for her trick." Annabeth switched to a low voice. "It's just a picture Annabeth, what harm would it be?" She imitated. Grover chuckled. "Anyway, the gorgons must have reformed, and the doors of death probably helped." Thalia, Grover and Annabeth seemed lost in thought until Annabeth walked over, wrapped the thing in a piece of bandage, and stuffed it into a plastic bag she found underneath one of the seats. "We're taking it with us; we never know when we might need something that can paralyze our enemy."

"Okay, we've solved this problem, what about Piper?" Leo asked.

Annabeth considered this.

"Grover, do you know a healing song yet?" Annabeth asked.

"Of course I do!" He exclaimed.

"Good, play it."

"Say please."

"Grover!" Annabeth scolded in exasperation.

"Fine," he muttered. He started playing a tune that started off slowly and gained speed around the middle. The gash closed up completely, and Thalia started bandaging it up. She's really turning into the quest group doctor…

"Why didn't we do this on Jason?" Leo asked in awe.

"Different situation," Grover explained. "When Jason got hurt, his wound wasn't as deep, but…"

Grover was cut off by Thalia.

"Okay, you can continue your lecture later, I think the monsters caught up with us already," she told them. Leo looked around, sure enough; there were a bunch of nasty looking meanies round the corner.

On a silent agreement, they all ran –more like limped- for the plane.

* * *

The plane ride went without much incident; Leo guessed that Zeus probably wouldn't want to blast his only two kids into pieces. In fact, the sky seemed abnormally calm. Not a single cloud in sight, as if Zeus kept it calm just for the group. With all the free time and peace, Leo just can't help his eyes as it strayed to Thalia's spiky black hair and electric blue eyes. Once his eyes got caught on her features he just can't seem to tear it off. So it stayed there, for how long he didn't know, but it felt like an eternity. Her eyes mesmerized him as he stared deeper and deeper into it. It was like an abyss, and Leo was freefalling, getting lost in the blue of her eyes and the dark curtain of lashes. Thalia didn't pay any attention to him, she was cleaning her bow and chatting to Piper about something-or-another.

The plane eventually came to a stop, and they lugged their bags to a random café in the street. A girl chewing gum about 18 came over to take their orders. The group ordered a couple of drinks and started talking.

"So," Thalia began. She absently rubbed her charm bracelet. "We've been attacked three times today. Not bad."

"Yeah, 'cause almost getting turned into stone isn't bad," Leo said sarcastically. Thalia ignored him. Probably to hide how much Leo impressed her.

Then Annabeth, who'd been silently gazing at the horizon, watching the suns gradual descent, spoke up. "First, we have to find a place to stay, half of us are hurt, and we need to rest."

"Yeah," Piper agreed, she gingerly touched her bandages. "Let's ask the waiter."

Thalia waved at the waiter.

"Yes?" she asked, she crossed over to their table.

"Is there a hotel nearby?"

"Round the corner, the Monoplis hotel," she answered, but then hesitated. "Do you kids have enough money for that?"

"I guess not…"

"Then there's a motel on the next street. It's pretty cheap."

"Thanks."

"No problem," she answered. Then she went back behind the counter.

The demigods finished off their drinks and headed over to the motel.

Little did they know what lay ahead.

**Cheers to which movie 'liiight bulb' came from :)**

**Sorry for the day late update, I got in trouble with my mom, couldn't use the computer with word ;P and there was some kind of internet problem, delayed it or a while too...**

**Anywayz, review!**


	6. The Romans

**Χάος**

**Sorry for not updating. I've finished this chapter on Saturday, but there's this error on FF, so I couldn't post it.**

**If you're going through confusion as to who I am, I'm most definitely 'CrazedBookfan14'. I changed my Pen name :D It's at least more unique than the previous.**

**O****kay, just so you know, these are all scattered scenes from Percy's Roman camp experience.**

**And to Clara: Dudeee, chiill xD Writing's a hobby, not a task. No need to get all worked up over it... But yes, I checked the grammar and added some stuff. Thanks for mentioning it though :D**

Chapter 6:

"Percy, are you're sure you're okay?" Aricia asked.

The two were lying on one of the only patches of grass in the woods that weren't burnt to crisps by the sun, the sun was just setting, and they watched as it slid down the sky like a big, flat, orange disk.

Percy rolled his eyes. "This is the three hundredth time you asked that in…" He checked his watch. "Two hours."

"I'm just making sure..." The girl grumbled, "you're so mean."

"But I told you I'm okay already!"

"Uh huh? You fainted dead on the floor and you tell me you're fine."

"My gods Aricia!" Percy exclaimed. "You're acting like you're my mom!"

"For good reason," she countered. "_You _are an irresponsible child with absolutely no discipline whatsoever."

Percy stuck his tongue out at her.

"See?"

"Fine!" He gave in. "I'm not as uptight as you, but to me, that's good."

"I'm not uptight! I'm just... Organized. And look how much trouble you got in for _not _being organized. I actually think Anthony's ready to roast you over a fire."

"But at least I know how to actually _enjoy _life."

"Yeah, 'cause being the most stupid person here is enjoying life."

"You really need to lay off the sarcasm, Aricia."

"And you need to lay off the idiocy."

Percy buried his head in his knees.

"You're giving me a migraine," he complained, his voice was muffled by his shirt.

"Good, that'll make you think twice before you challenge me."

"What kind of world _is _this?" Percy moaned. "I thought the_ older _sibling was supposed to boss the _younger_ one around?"

"Not in my world you don't," Aricia announced triumphantly, she checked the sun's position. "Now, let's go, I really don't want to get Ethan angry… Again."

"Neither do I," Percy responded, relieved that Aricia would finally leave him alone. He stood up and stretched. "Come on."

* * *

"Nice sword you've got," Dakota complimented. "Where'd you get it?"

"I don't really remember…" Percy admitted.

"Amnesia sucks huh? I've had a taste of that few years ago." He confided.

"Really?"

"Yep, hit my head pretty hard. Don't worry though, it 's probably gonna wear off after a while."

"I hope so," Percy sighed. "I'm getting tired of saying 'I don't know'."

Dakota laughed. Percy judged him to be in good humor, so he decided that it was fine to voice that little nagging question from the back of his brain.

"Dakota," he began uncertainly. "What's the deal with Reyna and Jason?"

Dakota sighed and looked down at his dagger. He suddenly looked sad and tired. All mirth from moments before was drained from his face. Percy started to regret asking, but Dakota began slowly. "Jason likes her, a lot. But Reyna's convinced - because of the last prophecy - I think, that she _can't _be with Jason. I have no idea why she thinks that. Weird mind that girl's got, and stubborn too." Dakota stared at the ground, lost in memory. "I don't know what exactly happened. They went on a quest, and when they got back, Reyna's joined the hunters. And Jason won't tell me."

"Oh," Percy said, stunned. He was _not_ expecting that. "Oh.'

Then a horn blew in the distance.

"Time for dinner, Percy. Let's go, I'm starving."

* * *

Percy stared, shell-shocked, un-believing.

"_What?_"

Lupa growled in annoyance. _Yes. Besides that, Aeolus has turned, and the storm spirits are released. Zeus cannot do anything, neither can the rest of the gods. They cannot enter others realms, unless invited. _

"But what can _I _do?"

The wolf curled her lips. _I think you know._

Percy _did_ know. Deep in his hearts of hearts, he knew. And he most definitely did not like it.

**Yeah, I know it sucks****… But I really can't help it… I've got a head-ache, un-finished lab report, sore throat, and two newly pulled out teeth. 'Cause I'm gonna get braces. Eeek O.o Hmmm... Arica's Percy's sis, Reyna'****s in the hunters, Aeolus's betrayer, and what else?**


	7. The Voice

**Χάος**

**Yay, yay, yay. I****'ve solved the idiotic editing trouble all thanks to TheDaughterofNyx and OfMusicandMayhem. I can't believe all you had to do is go to the properties/error page, and change the ID where it says properties to contents. I took so long try'na figure it out!**

Chapter 7:

"Thanks," Piper told the man behind the counter. He grunted in reply.

"Great manners people have here," Leo commented.

Piper smiled slightly, and then grabbed the keys from the worn out wooden surface. "We've got room 103," she announced.

"Come on, then," Thalia responded, getting up. She ushered them through the lobby, where there were basically no one at all. Piper observed a girl with her mother entering their room on the way, but that was about it. The corridors smelled of mildew, and the walls were stained with leaks that probably happen frequently here.

They entered their room; it was a shabby little thing. But it had a decent sized window looking out on the landscape, a small bathroom, and a clean-looking bed. Piper immediately collapsed on the sheets. A single day of the quest, and they already had three monster attacks. How were they gonna survive this?

"Come on, Jason," Thalia called. "We've got to clean your wound."

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jason trailing after his sister into the bathroom. Piper sighed and looked up at the ceiling. She felt so tired and insignificant right now, which was stupid. Since she_ did _save the world a week ago, but reflecting on the day, she couldn't believe how she'd acted. She'd been standing on the street like an idiot, when she could've done _something _to help. Piper closed her eyes, and a dream she'd had after the quest came back to her.

"_Piper Mclean," A voice hissed. Piper tried to make out who it was, but it was too dark. She looked around, all around her; there wasn't a spark of light. The air felt frigid and cold, the feeling made stronger by the cruel voice that spoke. "There is nothing you can do for those you call your 'friends'," It said. "Join us, and you will be rewarded." _

"_Who are you?" Piper called out._

"_Who I am matters not, but you will know soon, and you will understand the truth of what I said." _

"_You can't do anything to make me leave my friends," Piper said defiantly. The voice laughed. "Oh, how blissful is ignorance. You are nothing, Piper Mclean, if I don't want your existence, you will be gone. Lucky for you, you may be of value. But remember, you are no match against me." _

_Piper felt a pain in her temple and she woke._

She'd woken up in cold sweat in her cabin, but no one had noticed. Piper spent hours debating whether or not she should tell her friends. She should have. It was the right thing to do, but a weird feeling told her not to, so she didn't.

Piper still felt shaken by this voice, it made her unsure of herself, as much as she wanted to ignore it, she couldn't. It whispered repeatedly in her head, '_You are nothing.'_

"Your turn, Piper," Thalia voice drifted out of the bathroom. Piper got up slowly and stepped into the bathroom, she could hear the rest of them talking outside.

"Okay, put your leg up here," Thalia instructed. She passed a stool to Pipery. Then she un-wrapped the bandage Piper had on her thigh. It looked fine, actually, the gash already looked at least five days old, and there wasn't much blood. Thalia poured something onto a piece of gauze and cleaned Piper's cut gently. Piper winced, whatever it was Thalia poured, left a stinging feeling, but gradually turned into a refreshing sensation.

"Better?" Thalia asked her.

"Better," she responded.

Thalia carefully wrapped a length of bandage back onto Piper's leg. The two walked over to join in on the conversation.

"How're we gonna get there?" Leo asked.

"There're tour buses, it's a big tourist attraction now," Annabeth told him. She took a silver laptop with a Delta symbol on it out.

"Nice," Leo murmured.

Annabeth smiled. "It's Daedalus's."

"You mean the inventor guy?"

"Yeah, he gave it to me when he died."

"Sweet," Leo whistled.

"Okay guys," Thalia interrupted, "let's not blabber on about computers, and get on with it."

Annabeth typed rapidly on the keyboard. "It's just a few streets away from here, street _fondamento,_" she announced.

"Okay, but what's the boarding time?" Grover asked.

"Once every two hours, starting from nine."

"Better not miss it then," Grover said, "let's get some sleep."

"I'll keep watch," Jason volunteered.

"No," Thalia objected. "You need to rest."

"But I'm fine!" He protested.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," She waved dismissively. "We all know how strong you are. Now sleep."

Piper couldn't help but laugh. It was funny to see long lost siblings bickering. Thalia pulled out foam mattresses – out of where, Piper didn't know - , Jason sulked a bit, but then gave in and lay down to sleep.

"Come on guys, get some sleep. We don't want to miss the bus. I do _not _want to spend two hours at a bus stop," Thalia said.

The group settled down to rest, Piper immediately sank into unconsciousness.

"_Piper, Piper, Piper," The voice mocked. "You did not believe me, but now you will. Little hero, thinks she can do anything. Think again." _

"_How are you so sure?" Piper taunted, even though her heart was racing. "I can do more thank you think."_

_The voice only seemed amused. "Ah, you have so much to learn."_

_Images flashed in Piper's mind. _

_'Leo sank through the ground, it was black as night, like an endless void. Leo screamed as though he was being buried in red hot coals. Piper tried to help him, but pain shot through her the moment she tried to move. The earth submerged Leo, up his waist, his shoulder. Just before he sank completely, he looked straight in Piper's eyes with an emotion she couldn't place, and then he was gone._

"_No!" Piper screamed'_

'_Jason fought with his Gladius, it flashed through the air, but the earth shook, the sky turned dark. A crack opened up beneath his feet, revealing an open abyss, it yawned wide. A monster stabbed Jason in the stomach, he kneeled, defeated, blood trickled out of his mouth, and chasm's black depth swallowed Jason. He disappeared.'_

_Piper felt fear coursing through her, the images of her friends death fresh in her eyes._

"_Learn to fear the dark, Piper. Learn to fear the dark," The voice laughed._

**O-ke-dokey. I know this is a short chapter. I though of making it long, but… decided to leave you guys thinking :D**

**Sayonara for now :D**


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